An object of the invention is to provide an improved electrical connector of the type which includes an insulating box or housing having compartments each designed to accommodate an electrical contact element of which one and is intended to be connected to a corresponding contact element and the other to an electrical conductor. In general, the corresponding contact element is contained in another box or housing designed to be connected to the first box.
Numerous connectors of the above type are already known. The procedure for mounting them is generally as follows. The contact elements, which usually consist of male or female sockets, are supplied in bulk or strip form. The insulating boxes in which the contact elements are to be housed are usually supplied separately. The electrical conductors are clamped, soldered or mounted by any suitable method on the sockets. The sockets are then inserted in corresponding compartments of the insulating boxes and locked therein. The sockets comprise locking or securing means enabling them to be secured in the compartments, or, alternatively, the compartments themselves include such locking means. Also alternatively, both components can have locking means which are complementary to each other.
In the course of the various manipulations involved in mounting the contacts within the housing, the locking devices for the sockets, the means for connecting the sockets to the electrical conductor and/or the sockets themselves are frequently damaged or deformed, thus posing a considerable number of disadvantages. Specifically, the sockets no longer provide satisfactory electrical connections, nor can they be secured in position in the insulating box. Also, the electrical conductors are not fixed to the contact members in a suitable manner, thus making it impossible to assemble the pieces automatically by machine. These various disadvantages are even more acute in the case of particularly small connectors which utilize extremely fragile sockets.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector which overcomes the abovedescribed deficiencies in the prior art.